BILL NUMBER: AB 2827	CHAPTERED  09/07/00

	CHAPTER   313
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 7, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 2, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 29, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 28, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 8, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 26, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 27, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Cardoza
   (Coauthors:  Assembly Members Florez, Mazzoni, and Wiggins)

                        FEBRUARY 28, 2000

   An act to add Article 5 (commencing with Section 9900) to Chapter
2 of Part 1 of Division 3 of the Unemployment Insurance Code,
relating to employment development, and making an appropriation
therefor.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2827, Cardoza.  Employment Development Department:  Jobs for
California Graduates Program.
   Existing law provides for various employment development programs
administered by the Employment Development Department.
   This bill would permit the department to contract with a specified
nonprofit organization meeting specified criteria to manage grant
programs designed to help eligible at-risk youth complete their
secondary education and acquire the skills necessary to successfully
transition into the workforce or enroll in postsecondary education.
   This bill would appropriate  $500,000 from the General Fund to the
department for the purposes of the program, and declare the intent
of the Legislature that moneys necessary for funding the program in
future fiscal years be appropriated in the annual Budget Act.
   Appropriation:  yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
   (a) Recent studies show that as many as 50 percent or more of
youth drop out of high school prior to graduation in many areas of
the state.
   (b) Youth who face multiple social and economic barriers are most
at risk of dropping out of high school and failing to transition
successfully into the workforce.
   (c) Because of the financial constraints placed on schools in
providing the necessary individualized attention, youth with multiple
social and economic barriers often fail to succeed in even the best
educational systems.
   (d) Youth who do not complete their secondary education often lack
the skills necessary to qualify for most available job openings.
Many youths who do graduate often still lack fundamental work skills
and attributes that employers are seeking.
   (e) The earning potential of a high school graduate is 23 percent
more than a youth who does not complete his or her secondary
education.
   (f) Youths who lack the fundamental skills to obtain a quality job
are more likely to be involved in substance abuse or criminal
activities, threatening themselves and everyone around them.
   (g) With the booming California economy, employers are facing a
critical shortage in the labor market and are forced to compete for
qualified entry-level employees.
   (h) The Legislature has an interest in providing assistance to
those youths who can benefit most from the individualized attention
and transitional services needed to help them complete their
secondary education and successfully advance into the workplace.
   (i) While many of the education programs serving at-risk youth are
designed to serve all youth, most are not designed with an
accountability system that enables state and local policymakers to
quantify the results of the program.  Thus, millions of taxpayer
dollars are spent every year without a reliable mechanism for
determining the return on the taxpayer's dollar.
   (j) To ensure that California's most at-risk youth receive the
help they need to complete their secondary education and to gain
basic employability skills, and that taxpayers and policymakers can
monitor the return on their investment in publicly supported
programs, it is in the interest of the state to support a national
model program for at-risk youth that has demonstrated a strong
performance record in successfully achieving these outcomes.
   (k) Jobs for California Graduates (JCG), the pilot project based
on Jobs for America's Graduates (JAG), a national model program for
at-risk youth, has demonstrated remarkable success.  The local
program in Merced County has been operating for the last 10 years
with success rates of 90 percent graduation and over 80 percent job
or college enrollment.
  SEC. 2.  Article 5 (commencing with Section 9900) is added to
Chapter 2 of Part 1 of Division 3 of the Unemployment Insurance Code,
to read:

      Article 5.  Jobs for California Graduates Program

   9900.  (a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
article to support the expansion of the Jobs for California Graduates
pilot project in Merced into a regional system of local programs
based on the Jobs for America's Graduates model.  The Jobs for
California Graduates nonprofit, public-private partnership will
create a network of local programs to help California's at-risk youth
complete their secondary education and acquire the basic skills
necessary to successfully transition into the workforce or enroll in
postsecondary education.
   (b) The director of the Employment Development Department, from
funds appropriated for this purpose to the Jobs for California
Graduates Program, may make grants to applicants for the purpose of
carrying out programs as authorized by this article.  The grants
shall be used to support new and existing Jobs for California
Graduates Programs in the central valley region in one or more of the
following counties:  Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced,
Fresno, Madera, and Kern.  The director shall develop criteria for
ranking grant applications, and performance standards and auditing
procedures for evaluating the effectiveness of the grants.  The
director may contract with a qualified nonprofit corporation
designated by the national organization, Jobs for America's
Graduates, to provide technical assistance to Jobs for California
Graduates local programs.
   (c) The regional system of Jobs for California Graduates local
programs shall be designed to accomplish all of the following goals:

   (1) To decrease absenteeism rates for at-risk youth.
   (2) To improve the performance of at-risk youth in school and in
the workplace.
   (3) To improve secondary education completion rates.
   (4) To improve employability skills of at-risk youth.
   (5) To improve employment placement rates for at-risk youth.
   (6) To improve enrollment rates of at-risk youth in postsecondary
education and training.
   9901.  (a) In order to encourage a regional system of
long-lasting, self-sustaining model local programs, communities
served pursuant to this article shall contribute in-kind and
financial resources in direct support of the model local program,
according to the following schedule:
   (1) During its initial year of implementation, a Jobs for
California Graduates local program may receive state funds in an
amount equal to 100 percent of the costs of implementing each Jobs
for California Graduates Program site, but not to exceed sixty
thousand dollars ($60,000).
   (2) During any year subsequent to the initial year of
implementation, a model local program may receive state funds in the
amount equal to 75 percent of the costs of implementing the model
local program, but not to exceed forty-five thousand dollars
($45,000).
   (b) Community partners providing matching resources to the model
local programs may include private nonprofit corporations,
community-based organizations, workforce investment agencies, school
districts, and other public and private sources.
   9902.  Local affiliates of the Jobs for California Graduates
Program shall include all of the following elements:
   (a) (1) A trained youth specialist employed year-round providing
individual and group instruction to 25 to 45 eligible youth recruited
and selected by a school-based advisory committee comprised of
faculty, administrators, and counselors.
   (2) The youth specialist shall provide individual attention to
students to help them overcome barriers preventing them from
receiving a high school diploma or securing employment, or both, or
pursuing a postsecondary education that will lead to a career.
   (3) The youth specialist shall provide informal guidance to
students on academic, career, and life decisions and, based on the
individual needs of students, connect them to professional counseling
services to address more serious barriers, such as mental health
problems or drug abuse.
   (4) The youth specialist shall be actively involved in intensive,
one-on-one employer marketing and job development activities to
identify entry-level job opportunities for students upon graduation.
Likewise, the youth specialist shall assist graduates in the
exploration of postsecondary education opportunities and help them
navigate the financial aid process to pursue these opportunities.
   (b) Youth shall be taught a minimum of 37 employment competencies
designed to prepare them to secure a quality entry-level job or
pursue a postsecondary education, or both, upon completion of their
secondary education.
   (c) Placement services shall be provided to students during the
summer months or partnerships developed with summer youth employment
programs to support yearlong learning.  Youth specialists shall
maintain contact with youth during the summer months.
   (d) A student-led organization, associated with a state and
national association, shall build on the competency-based curriculum
and provide the opportunity for students to develop, practice, and
refine their leadership and team membership skills.
   (e) It shall serve as a school-based "one-stop center" for
participating at-risk youth to ensure that they receive appropriate
academic and social services from available resources in the school
and community.
   (f) It shall provide no less than 12 months of followup and
support on the job and in postsecondary education after leaving the
school.
   (g) It shall provide computerized tracking of youth served,
services delivered and performance outcomes, such as graduation rate,
positive outcome rates, aggregate employment rate, full-time jobs
rate, full-time placement rate, further education rate, wages, and
return to school rate, at local and state levels.
   (h) It shall provide continuous improvement of results through the
ongoing professional development of managers, supervisors, and
specialists.
   9903.  (a) Entities eligible to conduct a Jobs for California
Graduates local program shall include, but need not be limited to,
local education agencies, community colleges, and nonprofit
organizations with an interest in serving at-risk youth.
   (b) To maintain eligibility after the initial year of
implementation, participating entities shall conduct the Jobs for
California Graduates Program in accordance with Jobs for America's
Graduates performance standards, receiving no less than a "Meets
Standards" rating on an accreditation review.
   9904.  To be eligible to receive services through a Jobs for
California Graduates local program under this article, a youth shall
meet at least two of the following criteria:
   (a) One or more years behind modal grade for one's age group, with
particular emphasis on those two or more years behind modal grade.
   (b) Below average academic grade point average relative to
students in his or her class.
   (c) Above average number of absences during the past school year
in comparison to other students in the school.
   (d) Placed on probation, suspended, or expelled from school one or
more times during the past two years.
   (e) Pregnant or parenting teen.
   (f) Physically or mentally challenged.
   (g) Involved with substance abuse or criminal activities.
   (h) Member of an economically disadvantaged family.
   (i) Lives with only one or neither of his or her natural parents.

   (j) Receives little or no academic or social support from home or
family.
   (k) Mother has not graduated from high school.
   (l) Closest friends have limited educational expectations.  For
example, they do not expect to graduate from high school or have
already dropped out of high school.
   9905.  (a) For purposes of establishing and expanding these
programs, the department shall, to the extent feasible, make local
grants available throughout the region.
   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), it is the intent of the
Legislature that Jobs for California Graduates local programs be
conducted in a broad range of settings, including urban, suburban,
and rural districts, which are representative of all California youth
during the initial year of the regional program, in order to test
the effectiveness of the model local programs throughout the state.
   9907.  (a) The department shall submit an annual report to the
Legislature on the performance outcomes of the Jobs for California
Graduates local programs on an annual basis.
   (b) The department shall report the following outcomes at the end
of the 12-month followup period:
   (1) Secondary education completion rate as compared to the Jobs
for America's Graduates standard of 90 percent for senior
participants.
   (2) Positive outcomes rate, such as youth employed, enrolled in a
postsecondary institution, or serving in the military, or all of
these, as compared to the Jobs for America's Graduates standard of 80
percent positive outcomes for graduates.
   (3) Full-time placement rate, such as youth engaged in full-time
employment, full-time military, or combining postsecondary education
with employment.
   (4) All other participant outcomes as required by the Governor
under Section 122(h) of the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998.

   9908.  State funds made available pursuant to this article shall
be used to carry out both of the following:
   (a) The Jobs for California Graduates local program elements
specified in Section 9902.
   (b) Regional management and technical assistance activities,
including, but not limited to, all of the following:
   (1) Operation of an office, including the hiring of staff, that
shall be responsible for managing and monitoring model local program
compliance.
   (2) Conducting research and evaluation of all Jobs for California
Graduates local programs, retaining a third-party provider as
appropriate.
   (3) Making available regional training and development
opportunities for consistent, effective implementation of the model
local programs.
   (4) Conducting educational and outreach activities to engage
private and public sector employers, secondary and postsecondary
educational institutions, the military, state and local elected
officials, community and social service organizations, and other
interested parties.
   (5) Conducting regional activities for students, including, at a
minimum, a leadership development conference and a career development
conference.
   (6) Providing for the continuous improvement of model local
program performance outcomes.
   (7) Developing and maintaining state and local partnerships with
private and public employers, secondary and postsecondary educational
institutions, and community and social services organizations.
   (8) Providing other support and oversight to promote the
continuous improvement of Jobs for California Graduates local
programs.
   (9) Directly operating local programs as appropriate.
  SEC. 3.  (a) The sum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) is
hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Employment
Development Department for the purposes of the regional Jobs for
California Graduates Program established pursuant to Article 5
(commencing with Section 9900) of Chapter 2 of Part 1 of Division 3
of the Unemployment Insurance Code, as added by Section 2 of this
act.
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature that moneys necessary for
funding the regional youth development program in future fiscal years
be appropriated in the annual Budget Act.
